Copenhagen, Denmark — “Thwack.” A puck smashes against the boards from close range. “Thwack.” And another. “Thwack.” A resounding shout of joy echoes around the eerily silent rink. You cannot help but smile. It has been more than twenty minutes since the antepenultimate Belarusian skater left the ice. The nets have been removed. The coaches and the press officer are long gone. The goalie, who had to be convinced to stay a while extra, left a quarter of an hour ago. The only people inside the practice rink are a journalist, a frustrated Zamboni driver tapping his toes as he waits to do his duty, and a pair of teenage hockey players.

The skaters in question are Maksim Sushko and Yegor Sharangovich, arguably the two most naturally talented forwards to hail from the former Soviet nation since the Kostitsyn brothers. They have been playing a game of “who can hit the tiny logo on the adverting banners along the boards” for a good five minutes. It seems like...